The document reads in full (ms. additions in parentheses):
“These are to Satfy whom it may Concern That [Benjamin Lewis of St Mary Le bone, Labourer and Elis Woods of Edgeware in ye county of middx.] Were married [in ye Fleet] London, on ye [14] Day of [January] 17[39] according to the Rites & Ceremonies of the Church of England, as appears by ye Register, in the Custody of [Hen. Pickering].”
The register that included the marriage between Benjamin Lewis and Elisabeth Wood still survives and was used principally by four clergymen conducting marriages viz. D.Wigmore; W. Wyatt; Thos. Ryder; and Rich. Sidney. Although this particular marriage was not signed off in the register by the officiating parson, it is clear from the writing style that the union was conducted by Richard Sindrey.
Marriages at the Fleet are believed to have begun around 1611. Until the 1690s, the primary clandestine wedding sites in London were Holy Trinity, Minories, and St. James, Duke’s Place, with the Fleet Prison playing a minor role. However, the Marriage Duty Act of 1696 penalised beneficed clergymen for conducting marriages without banns or a license, significantly reducing such unions in parish churches. Fleet clergy, being unbeneficed, exploited a legal loophole that shielded them from prosecution, leading to a surge in clandestine marriages. These officiants, reportedly ordained members of the Church of England—though some credentials were questionable—conducted fully legal ceremonies.
The Fleet Prison once stood on Farringdon Street, where the Congregational Memorial Hall now stands. The surrounding area, known as the ‘Rules of the Fleet,’ was bounded by Farringdon Street, Ludgate Hill, the Old Bailey, and Fleet Lane. This notorious district, filled with narrow alleys, courts, and passages, housed debtors who, upon providing suitable security, could live there and continue their trades. Interestingly, not all Fleet clergy were debtors.
While some Fleet marriages were fraudulent or criminal — contributing to the site’s notorious reputation — many couples sought genuine, lasting unions. Fleet parsons and register-keepers, for a fee, were known to falsify dates on marriage records and certificates, further fuelling controversy.
